Email this article to a friend

Lifecycle Funds down as October TSP returns dip

By
Jack Moore

After months of solid numbers, most of the funds in the Thrift Savings Plan posted negative returns in October, including all of the Lifecycle (L) Funds.

The L funds invest in a combination of the five regular funds and are pegged to the year when a retiree will begin drawing on their TSP accounts.

The L Income was down 0.11 percent, the L 2020 was down 0.45 percent and the L 2050 was down 0.8 percent. The L 2030 and L 2040 also posted negative returns. (See below for all funds' performances in October).

The C Fund (which tracks the S&P 500) and the S Fund (which tracks a broader array of stock indexes not included in the S&P 500) were the only two regular funds to post negative returns. They posted some of the strongest returns last month but were down by 1.86 percent and 1.31 percent, respectively, this month.

The G, F and I funds all posted slight gains.

TSP returns climbed through August and September but appear to have mostly stalled. Still, even with the October dip, all 10 of the funds remain in positive territory for the year and over the previous 12-month period.

The Federal Thrift Investment Board, which manages the TSP, began processing transactions again Wednesday after the markets were shuttered for two days as superstorm Sandy battered the East Coast.